Tonight, Beautique opens on West 58th Street, right next to the Paris Theater and the Plaza Hotel. Craig Hopson, formerly the executive chef at Le Cirque, will cook an American menu with dishes like chicken breast with lemon and mint, spaghetti with salmon caviar and smoked salmon belly, and a Walforf-style salad. But the 125-seat restaurant has a French feel (and escargot): There’s Jean Paul Gaultier tattoo-patterned fabric on bar stools, a gilded ceiling, and a mirror-lined staircase. It’s intended to channel the spirit of Coco Chanel’s house in Paris, and James Beard–nominated mixologist Charlotte Voisey even has a cocktail called the Gabrielle, with gin, ginger, oolong tea simple syrup, and lavender bitters. Beautique’s all-star team also includes Frank Roberts, the former manager of Rose Bar, and pastry chef Jiho Kim, who last worked at Gordon Ramsay at the London. Take a look at a few of the dishes and the menu, straight ahead.
Roasted carrot salad with harissa, kale, lentils, and sheep’s-milk yogurt.Photo: Melissa Hom
Red snapper with melted leeks and walnut tartare.Photo: Melissa Hom
Mixed grill of lamb with olive-mint-caper relish and roasted tomatoes.Photo: Melissa Hom
Yam roasted with miso and lemongrass, with buckwheat, hen-of-the-wood mushrooms, and spinach.Photo: Melissa Hom
Brown-butter kataifi with cassis cream-cheese, pickled rhubarb, and ricotta-cheese sorbet.Photo: Melissa Hom
Menu [PDF]
Beautique, 8 West 58th St., 212-753-1200
